Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the NDC, is under scrutiny from different angles. Recently, the Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo, has criticised Peter Obi over claims linked to his records as a former governor of Anambra State, saying Nigerians are now ready to scrutinise the former governor’s statement ahead of the 2027 general election coming up in the next 4 months.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said that now is the time for Nigerians to examine the claims by Peter Obi and the Anambra State government over the financial records of his administration as a governor.

Peter Obi has been vocal with his campaign recently, drawing the attention of high-profile politicians who question his integrity as a former governor of Anambra State. The Aviation Minister, Keyamo, has rejected suggestions that the repeated public attention on Obi amounted to an obsession with the former Anambra governor. According to the Minister, he believes that scrutiny is very necessary in order to examine Peter Obi’s public statements.

Keyamo Defends Scrutiny of Peter Obi

In one post made by the minister on his social media handle, Keyamo argued that any politician who makes frequent claims should expect those claims to be checked by the public.

In his own words, he said

“I see some suggestions that everyone is ‘obsessed’ about Peter Obi because we are always talking about him. I am sorry, but they miss the point,” Keyamo wrote.

Then he went ahead to allege that Obi has been making false claims since his 2023 presidential campaign but wasn’t scrutinised properly while making these claims.

In the words of the minister, he said

“When someone lies per second, you also have to fact-check him per second. He got away with the lies in 2023, but this time Nigerians are ready to fact-check every claim of the ‘yes-daddy’ man,” the minister said.

Keyamo went on to conclude that the amount of public discussion about Peter Obi was connected to the pubic claims he made about his administration as a former governor of Anambra State.

With the findings about Keyamo’s Statements, we believe they are mere allegations about Peter Obi. They do not, by themselves, establish that every statement made by the former governor was false.

Dispute Over Peter Obi’s Record in Anambra

Since Peter Obi started his campaign in 2023, many have regarded him as Mr. Integrity due to the facts and figures he drops regarding his performance as a former governor of Anambra State. The Minister’s comment came as Obi and the Anambra State Government continued to disagree over the financial position of the state when he left office in March 2014.

For the past few days now, the dispute has intensified after the state government questioned the claims made by Peter Obi about the state debt he met and cleared during his days in office as the former governor of Anambra State, as well as savings and funds he said his administration left behind.

Some government officials linked with Anambra have claimed that Peter Obi’s administration took some loans that are still outstanding and are still being serviced by the state. The present government has also gone ahead to challenge Peter Obi, claiming that more than ₦2.13 billion was left in a First Bank account for the Oko and Umuchiana erosion control project.

Anambra Government Releases Loan Figures

Peter Obi has come online to counter so many of these claims through posts he makes on his social media handles, where he shares documents, facts and figures to back his claims. According to a report from a reliable source, Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, said eight external loans associated with Obi’s administration remained outstanding.

The government of the state made mention that the said loan amounted to $123.7 million when contracted and had an outstanding balance of $92.35 million as of June 30, 2026. Using the exchange rate applied in its calculation, the state valued the balance at approximately ₦127.37 billion.

According to these reports, the alleged loans were linked to projects involving malaria control, education, health, erosion management, as well as political disputes.

Obi Denies Leaving Unpaid Obligations

Peter Obi, who is known and called Mr Integrity, has publicly come out to debunk these allegations of him leaving behind unpaid obligations when he handed over power.

The former governor of Anambra State said his administration has no outstanding debts, and his administration cleared all historical salaries and pension arrears and settled gratuities. He also went ahead to state that contractors who had completed their projects and had their documents processed were not owed money.

Peter Obi went further to state that his administration left more than ₦75 billion in savings.

In his own words, he said;

“As at the day I left office, I was not owing any salary, pension, or gratuity that Anambra State Government is supposed to pay,” Obi said in response to the allegations.

He also went ahead to say that he is not owing any supplier or contractor that had completed work and whose documents had been processed.